Tigers apologise to Frawley for leak

Richmond president Clinton Casey has apologised to coach Danny Frawley in the wake of a leaked internal memo that has embarrassed the struggling club.

Casey said he hoped to get to the bottom of the leak, which, among other information, aired thoughts on Frawley's poor standing in the eyes of fans.

"Essentially, I said I'm sorry on behalf of the club that that sort of information got out because it is something that you deal with on a daily basis behind closed doors," Casey said.

The memo revealed orders to stop any criticism of Richmond's supporter base from within the club, for Frawley to demonstrate some "palpable emotion" for the club, and for all comments about the coach and club to be delivered with a mixture of optimism and reality.

In a related development, Victorian cricket coach David Hookes is seeking legal advice after Richmond football director Greg Miller commented about his role in releasing the memo. Hookes said yesterday that neither he nor any member of the Victorian cricket squad were responsible for the leak, which Hookes read on 3AW on Wednesday evening.");document.write("

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Hookes said it was unfair of Miller to suggest in the media that the arrangement between Richmond and the Bushrangers - where the cricketers had been allowed to use the Tigers' facilities - may "have to cease" because he had broadcast the document.

"It's very damning that the (Victorian) players were implicated in something as underhand as what was suggested, and there is nothing to suggest that the players were involved or myself was involved," he said.

Hookes said he had never seen the document until shown it by his producer Jac Woodcock shortly after the radio program had begun. "Our producer knows where it came from but I don't know where it came from, she wouldn't tell us," he said.

Miller denied he had blamed Hookes for the leaking, but confirmed that Richmond would "tighten security", with particular focus on the club's policy of allowing athletes from other codes to share facilities.

"I'm not blaming Hookesy for pinching anything . . . it's just common sense that you have to tighten security," he said. "The Victorian cricketers are in our rooms, David Hookes is the one who read it out, common sense says that you've got to tighten security when those sorts of things happen."

Richmond chief executive Ian Campbell said on 3AW yesterday that restricting outside access to the club's facilities would be unavoidable. "Whether it's the Victorian team or Circus Oz, I think we'll be limiting people access to the rooms for some time," he said.

Campbell said it "remains to be seen" whether Frawley's tenure hampers Richmond's efforts to attract new members, as foreshadowed in the memo.

The author of the memo, Richmond communications manager Paul Maley, said he was disappointed the document had been made public. Maley said the memo was far from scathing, and rather was "common sense" for a side that had lost eight matches in a row.

"We've had a mixed reaction, we've had some people saying it is good to know you're in touch with our emotions, while others are saying it's just more spin doctoring," he said.